Float valve for water dispensers



Dec. 22, 1953 J. CONTINENZA FLOAT VALVE FOR WATER DISPENSERS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 12. 1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

` Dec. 22, 1953 J. CONTINENZA &663312 FLOAT VALVE FOR WATER DISPENSERS Filed April 12, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :J'aarepk Onmfla INVENTOR Patented Dec. 22, 1953 1 invention rel ateto-a float--va1ve,- particularly aapted for embodiment,--in-- a 'cold water: disp'enser for rfrigerators i i portant p objeotrof th present intention: is to provide an improvedfioat value construca ti'onfor water dispensers,- that wiiia beof simple and easilyasembld eenstr-uction; will permit aj-ustment to regul-at the :normal waterevel in the dispenser e andthat; willpermit adjust-.- mente tq be readiiymadewith respect to-thetihtness with which said- -vaivewil'l engage its' seat in the closed positionof the va1ve.-

'Another important object of thepresent inven-, tion is; to provide an improved ;means mounted in refrigeratorwhereby one' ispermitted to draw ooldjwater from atapmounted -in associaa tion with said ref-rigerator; the -cold water -drawn fromsaidtap being--chiliedwithin the ref rigeratdi? which-; rfrigeraton can be the conventional dqi'stio typ ofelectrie-rerigrator.- r i inother''important object is to `provide a dis-. penser of-the type statedwhioh wiltoper-ate auto fijatically tjmaihtain a 'supply a water thereinthat will be ch illed bythe e-frig erator so' that ice' waterwill- =b e dispened from -the dviceat &k im s thety pe stated that canbe mountedin a refrig eratOr aIreadY-nuse; without modification 'of the fo mgisad,rei t rats -i. 4

Yet anotherobjeotis to provide a devce of s.. xn stat dwhi hwi ltbe; a r b e f n factur'at relatively low cost, durabie, and sanitary. r

With the foregoing and othr objects in View hy %REWE aa h e r p pr d n consists of certannovel details of .'p h m' inted outinthe andthrough a portion of a refrigerator in which Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a pivoted fioat-supporting arm.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a plunger reciprocated by said arm.

&Glamssr (Cl- 2 Referring to thedrawings 'in detaia a; oomen tional domestic refrigerator lis provided with an` 'opening-in -its wan througnwhich extends a pipe -z' -tapped into-the housea water-supp1'y.: Piper 2 atits `-inner end extendsinto communication 5 the convex-seat 9.-` Th oounterbores opensupon the lowerend-ofthe valveb-od'yA, sai'd lwer end of the valve body-being-externally-threaded; A oonvex rubber washenorvalve head--'lllis dis'- posedjust below-the -oonvex=-seat-5', *andthe erest of said' rubber head-- Hi isadapt'ed to eng age against thebore 'i when the-head-is shift'ed upwardly to -shutoif th passage; %water-through* said bore 1:

The rubber head l D'is Secured to -t-heenlargedupper end H of -a-pipe membergl'2'^havingnear its lower end the diametrically opposed=out away port-ions M:- The plungeris reciprocabie in the bore of atubular bracket-I-5 haVingthe-ear^16& laterally extended:therefrompnwhich ^pivots in a-ve'tical plane thefio'atsupportermhavingtheyoke T-*at one end ;straddl'ing the-braket lfi and piyotally'connected to said bracket saidyoke beingio-med at the upperend of the upwardw extended portion IS of the fiQat' support army.

said upwardly eXtended 'portion being' at right;

angles to the intermediate portion la of said arm; and being twisted perpendiolarly relative tdsaid er d a p rt on .I 9:

The intermediate portion 19 *off the fioat' sup:: o t. m (Eig. 41' has. fotmed* ,ther ir the, lbingi tudinai slot; ,2 0 'havngpt one end ;the G rl- 1112 1? en a ed ,port on 1. he" nl ree is' 'entered throu h.. the, 'arged portion i 21.' unt 1..'.the cut away, portions; [4 'a1ign With the 'int ermegiiater portion. 19, .after whi nmovement. of; the; pli 'n rtwisted at l' into 'perpendicularity to the intermediate portion 19, and is extended obliquely and upwardly relative to the substantially hori- 'zontally disposed intermediate portion of the float support arm, as at 22. A longitudinal series of openings 23 are formed in said free end of the fioat support arm, and pivotally connected to the upwardly extended end 22 of the arm through any of the openings 23 is the depending link 24 Secured at its lower end to the female stud 25 attached to the removable lid of a cup-like fioat 26 floating in a supply of water contained in the lower portion 21 of the cold water container. The lower portion 21 of the container is removably engaged with the fixed upper portion 28 into which the pipe 2 extends, and said lower portion of the container is supported upon a shelf 29 of the refrigerator being removably connected to said shelf by means of a screw and wing nut 30. A tap 3l is mounted in the wall of the container 21 adjacent the lower end thereof.

u In use, it will be understood that overall control of the device is possible through the medium of the shut-off valve 6, and the device can be rendered inoperative by closing of said valve as in Fig. 1. Assuming that the device is to be placed in use the valve 6 is opened and left open. When the water level W drops, the float support arm will be pulled downwardly, and will in turn pull the reciprocable plunger 12 downwardly so as to open the bore 1.' Water will be forced under pressure through pipe 2 through the bore 3, valve chamber 5, bore T, around the head li and externally of the plunger l2 and thence into the container. The water will continue to raise the water level until the flow 26 has risen to an extent suflcient to once more engage the rubber head u in the position of Fig. 1, in which position it closes the bore 1 and shuts ofl the inow.

It may be noted that the plunger [2 from one end to the other is of substantially reduced diameter relative to the counterbore 8 and the bore of the tubular bracket l5, thus to permit the water to flow externally of said plunger after it leaves the bore 1.

In this way a continuous supply of water W is maintained, sufficient to cause said water to be chilled by normal operation of the household refrigerator, so that each time the tap 3l is opened by a user, ice cold water will be dispensed.

v The level of the water in the container is adjustable by adjustable positioning of the link 24 relative to the fioat support arm, the longitudinal series of openings 23 being intended for this purpose.

What is claimed is:

' 1. In a float valve Construction for a Water dispenser, a valve body adapted to be fixedly mounted within a dispenser container, said valve body having a vertical bore and having a counterbore below and in communication with said vertical bore, the lower end of said valve body being externally threaded; a tubular bracket having a vertical bore coaxial with the bore and counterbore of the valve body, said tubular bracket being internally threaded at its upper end for adjustable connection to the threads of the valve body; an ear projecting laterally from and rigid with said bracket; a plunger member vertically reciprocable 4 in the bore of the bracket and formed at its upper end. with a valve head disposed within said counterbore, said valve head being engageable in the upper position of the plunger member against the base of the counterbore, whereby to close the bore of the valve body; a fioat support arm having a horizontal intermediate portion connected with said plunger member, one end portion of said fioat support arm being rigid with said intermediate portion and extending upwardly from said intermediateportion in approximate parallelism with said plunger member, said end of the fioat support arm being pivotally connected to the earof the bracket; and a float connected to the other end of the float support arm, the bracket when threaded upwardly upon the valve body bodily carrying therewith the plunger member and fioat support arm, whereby to control the seating of the valve head against the base of the counterbore.

2. A valve comprisng an elongated valve body, a nipple carried by the valve body and projecting downwardly therefrom intermediate the ends thereof, said nipple having an axial discharge orifice extending therethrough and an axially disposed bore opening through its lower end communicating with the discharge orifice, an elongated fitting'having a vertically disposed axial passage extending therethrough and communicating with the bore in the nipple, an ear carried by the fitting and extending laterally therefrom above the lower end thereof, a fioat support arm pivotally connected to the ear and extending downwardly therefrom adjacent the fitting an extension on the oat support arm and projecting laterally theref'om beneath the fitting, said extension having an elongated longitudinally extending keyhole slot extending therethrough intermediate its ends, an elongated plunger mounted in a tting for movement vertically therein and adapted to enter the enlarged portion of the keyhole slot, said plunger having diametrically opposed grooves extending transversely thereof for receiving opposite walls of the keyhole slot, a head carried by the plunger into closing relation to the discharge orifice, and a buoyant body carried by the extension remote from the float support arm for rocking said arm about the pivot and moving the head into and out of closing relation to the orifice.

J OSEPI-I CONTINENZA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number i Name Date 5455348 Crawford et al; Aug. 27, 1895 609,554 Martin Aug. 23, 1898 1,142,620 Radcliffe June 8, 1915 1,623,811 Pownall Apr. 5, 1927 1,692,223 Pinkerton Nov. 20, 1928 1,790,236 Hull Jan. 27, 1931 1,967,431 Replogle July 24, 1934 2,190,574 Szush Feb. 13, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,267 Great Britain 1862 '78,432 Germany 1894 99,892 Austria May 11, 1925 487,572 France 1917 

